Mosquito control and management

Public Health Significance of Urban Pests Mosquitoes 361 360 Attempts have been made to list, on a literature research base, all mosquito species for all countries belonging to the WHO European Region, but much of the data are outda- ted and several countries do not have data available. According to Schaffner and collea- gues 2001a, Snow Ramsdale 2003, and Becker and colleagues 2003, there are about 100 species of mosquitoes in Europe. For Canada and the United States, more than 160 mosquito species are recorded Darsie Ward, 1981. Owing to continuous mosquito monitoring, mainly done by mosquito control associations, states in the United States are entomologically far more up to date than most European countries and can react more quickly and more efficiently to emergencies.

11.8. Mosquito control and management

Current challenges posed by the emergence of mosquito-borne pathogens in the western hemisphere illustrate the importance of cooperation and partnership at all levels of government to protect public health. In the United States, the EPA and the CDC work closely with each other and with other federal, state and local agencies to manage mos- quito-borne diseases. Although this functional unity cannot prevent pathogens, especially not those borne by arthropods, from being introduced into the country, it is able to take quick and appropriate measures to minimize the impact on public health. In Europe, recent developments within the European Union EU have led to the creation of an agency similar to the CDC – the ECDC. However, there is no EU-wide policy on mos- quito control. Instead, most European countries address this problem at the state or local level, or both. In the United States, the CDC, working closely with state and local health departments, monitors the potential sources and outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases and provides advice and consultation on the prevention and control of these diseases. The CDC works with a network of experts in human and veterinary medicine, entomology, epidemio- logy, zoology and ecology to obtain quick and accurate information on emerging trends, which they develop into national strategies that reduce the risk of transmitting diseases. In the United States, the EPA ensures that state and local mosquito control departments have access to effective mosquito control tools they can use without posing an unaccep- table risk to human health and the environment. The Agency also educates the public through outreach efforts that encourage the proper use of insect repellents and pesticides. Moreover, the EPA’s rigorous pesticide review process is designed to ensure that registe- red chemicals, when used according to label directions and precautions, can reduce dis- ease-carrying mosquito populations. In Europe and North America, state and local government agencies play a critical role in protecting the public from mosquito-borne diseases. They serve at the front, providing information through their outreach programmes to the medical and environmental sur- veillance networks that first identify possible outbreaks. They also manage the mosquito control programmes that carry out prevention, public education and vector population management. Generally, local, district or even state health authorities are to be informed in the event of mosquito-related problems. These authorities, however, are usually unprepared for such problems and are forced to contact specialists affiliated with research institutes, uni- versities and pest control companies. Also, in many countries, few research institutions that deal with mosquito biology and ecology and mosquito-borne diseases are left, and because of the lack of data these institutions appear to be nonexistent. Usually, mosquito control is governmentally organized at the state level only when there is a proven trans- mission of mosquito-borne pathogens. In the United States, while malaria, West Nile fever, yellow fever, and eastern equine, western equine, St. Louis and La Crosse encephalitis are notifiable diseases on a national level, dengue fever is not. In the various countries of Europe, there is no consistent noti- fication duty for mosquito-borne infections. In most European countries, however, the national health authorities are to be notified about cases of malaria, West Nile fever, yel- low fever, haemorrhagic fevers such as dengue haemorrhagic fever and all viral menin- goencephalitides, which are sometimes caused by Tahyna and Sindbis virus infections. The increasing risk of further mosquito-borne diseases being introduced from related overseas territories could result in new notification guidelines, as was implemented for chikungunya fever and dengue fever in France, in April 2006.

11.7. Mosquito monitoring